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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22363228">Day 022</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard'>Josh_the_Bard</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Year in Kirkwall [22]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 10:34:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,179</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22363228</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Year in Kirkwall [22]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Day 022</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Noll and their family were having a picnic on the Wounded Coast. They had picked a spot in plain view of the city on a stretch of coastline surrounded by rocks, even at high tide. It was a place that was of no interest to smugglers or slavers. </p><p>The picnic was fresh breads and old cheeses stolen from some nobleman’s larder. A token of thanks from a friend. </p><p>They lounged on the beach enjoying the cool sea air and admiring the beauty of the waves. </p><p>Noll was still worried about Merrill. They hadn’t meant to scare her but that didn’t change the fact that they had. They had asked some friends try to check in on her but she hadn’t left her house all day yesterday. But today wasn’t about Merrill, or Noll’s failings as a decent elf; it was about this family and giving Peter the chance to just be a child. </p><p>Gale had been hoping that Merrill might tutor the boy in magic. At least enough to stay hidden from the templars and avoid demonic possession but Noll has ruined any chance of that. They would need to find another option, but Kirkwall certainly didn’t lack for apostates. Maybe one of the mages at the clinic in Datktown. Having a healer in the Alienage would be an incredible boon. </p><p>Noll smiled as he watched Peter and Mathias playing in the water. Mathias would launch his son into the air and Peter would try to make the biggest splash when he landed, squealing with delight the enter time. The poor boy kept swallowing water and they had to take a break for him to cough it back up.</p><p>“Please don’t drown our child,” Gale shouted from the shore.</p><p>“They say salt water is good for the lungs,” Mathias called back. “Oh wait that’s salt air. Best if you keep your mouth shut scamp.”</p><p>The sun made its way through the sky, the cheese made its way into Gale‘s belly, and Noll made their way into a nap. The nap was dreamless so it felt like only a heartbeat before they were awakened, though the sun had almost set. </p><p>“Don’t climb on the rocks!” Gale was shouting. Noll looked seaways and saw Peter halfway up one of the rocks that peaked out of the water.</p><p>“If he falls he’ll land on the water!” Mathias protested.</p><p>“That’s probably the safest place to practice climbing,” Noll added. It was where they had practised when they were Peter’s age. </p><p>“Well,” Gale called out, clearly wanting to protest further. “Just be careful.”</p><p>“I will,” Peter called back, in a very much carefree tone. </p><p>Noll watched their nephew’s progress with interest. The boy wasn’t half bad. Emboldened by the complete obliviousness to danger that was the blessing, and the curse, of youth he flew up the rockface. He waved to the shore when he had reached the top of the rock. Noll waved back smirking at Gale’s obvious discomfort.</p><p>“There’s a hole on this rock,” Peter called down. “It looks like it goes all the way down to-“ his works cut off into a yelp and the boy disappeared. </p><p>Gale and Noll were on their feet in two heartbeats. They charged towards the rock. Mathias was already climbing up the rock but Noll beat him to the top. They looked down the home and saw Peter lying on the slick rocks at the bottom. There must be some sort of hole at the bottom for water to drain or the whole thing would be filled with rainwater. </p><p>Noll called down but Peter didn’t respond. It was dark in the hole but Noll could see that one of his legs was bent the wrong way. Mathias and Gale reached the top, the three of them balanced precariously on the lip of the rock as they peered down at the unconscious boy. </p><p>“Awe shit,” Mathias said looking down. “How are we going to get him out?”</p><p>The walls of the home are slick with water and slime,” Noll said. “I don’t think I can climb up carrying him. If we had a rope maybe.”</p><p>“If we tie our clothes together,” Gale said, “we should be able to make a rope long enough to reach the bottom.”</p><p>They got to work stripping down and fashioning the rope. Noll, in their small-clothes, tested each connection before sliding down into the hole. Gale and Mathias stayed at the top, holding the rope and bracing themselves against Noll’s weight. As soon as they put weight against the wall Noll slipped and fell. They twisted on the way down to avoid landing on Peter and felt their ankle pop on impact. </p><p>Noll let out a string of curses until the pain subsided enough for them to think. They assessed Peter for injuries. He had hit his head on the way down but he was slowly coming back to consciousness. His right leg was compleat lou broken as were a few ribs. Before Noll figured out how they were going to get the boy out of the hole, Peter woke up enough to start crying.</p><p>“Peter look at me,” Noll said al calmly as they could. </p><p>“My leg!” Peter whimpered “It hurts so much.”</p><p>“I know,” Noll said. “But I need you to be brave for a bit, can you do that?”</p><p>Peter nodded but didn’t stop crying. Noll got the boy to hold onto their back and they called up to Gale and Mathias to let them know he was coming up. Noll couldn’t get good purchase on the slimy walls and their sister and brother-in-law ended up just pulling them up while Noll tried to protect Peter from knocking against the walls.</p><p>Between the three of them that managed to get Peter down the outside of the rock without dropping him. Noll’s injured leg made the trip agonizing but they pushed the pain out of their mind as best they could. When they reached the shore it became clear that whatever has happened to Noll’s leg prevented them from putting weight on it. </p><p>“I’ll take him to the Darktown healer,” said Mathias heading off at a jog, Peter cradled in his arms. Gale let Noll lean on her for support as they followed at a slower pace. It was well past dark before they reached the city. They paused briefly outside the gate to put their clothes back on. No need to draw more attention to themselves then they would already. Noll tried to follow Mathies to Darktown but Gale steered them towards the Alienage. </p><p>“We can’t walk through Darktown as we are,” she said. “Besides, it’s been long enough that they might be home already.”</p><p>So they went home, despite Noll’s protests. When they got home they found that Mathias and Peter had not returned. Gale wanted to head out right away to find them at the clinic but Noll made her wait until he called some friends over to act as her escort. Once they had left Noll settled in and prepared for a night of sleepless worry.</p>
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